“I thought that the second round was 10-9 for Caraway so that means the first round can’t really be 10-9 for Sterling. It’s got to be 10-8 & 1/2, it’s got to be something to give him credit for what he did over those five minutes. But in the current scoring system a lot of people are gun shy when it comes to writing down that 10-8, and you can probably count me among them so that’s why I had it 10-9.” – On the divide between people scoring rounds for fights like this.

— “Everything about this 24 year old Garbrandt is impressive when you know the backstory and all the personal adversities, everything he had to deal with, in part having to raise himself. And then in his fighting career only loss is in amateur competition, he’s perfect as a pro. His last fight, you know he sells all these tickets in Pittsburgh, John Lineker can’t fight, gets a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion in Augusto Mendes – the guy misses weight, just deals with all of that like its nothing at all.

Then he goes into this main event, his first UFC main event against a guy who is 21-0 and he was respectful but somewhat dismissive of the credentials of Almeida, and felt like he was a little bit overrated. Then just goes out and almost like a Tony Ferguson like approach, just all offense like there’s nothing this guys going to do to get me out of here.

I don’t know man the confidence of this young man is pretty scary. When you start to think about the ceiling for Cody Garbrandt maybe it’s even higher than people like me, you know I thought he would contend for sure but I watch that fight and I think he may have the stones to be a champion.” – On how impressive Cody Garbrandt’s performance was against Thomas Almeida and how far he can go in the division.

Florian:

“I think this is kind of the perfect time to realize, you know what, he’s not invincible, he has more work to do. I think this is going to drive him to be a much better fighter.” – On what Aljamain Sterling should take away from his loss to Bryan Caraway.

“It was very impressive. You know prior to the fight Rashad and I were discussing what were going to be the determining factors. We saw some holes defensively in both fights, no doubt about it, maybe more so in Almeida. I saw more in Almeida, Rashad saw more in Garbrandt because he holds his hands high now. It’s one thing to hold your hands high and it’s another to just kind of leave your head in the pocket without moving it off the centerline.” – On analyzing the holes both fighters had on the Garbrandt/ Almeida matchup.

“Now I hear he’s calling out Caraway which I think makes a lot of sense. I talked about it on the post fight show. I think with both those guys winning on Saturday night I think it’s a phenomenal matchup to determine who should get the next shot, maybe after Dillashaw and Assuncao.” – On a potential Bryan Caraway vs. Cody Garbrandt matchup.﻿

“Jeremy Stephens is a savage dude. I mean the power that he throws with his hands is just insane.” – On Stephens impressive performance against former bantamweight champion Renan Barao.

“Larkin really is coming into his own and there is a big argument for him that he won he last fight against Tumenov as well. Larkin is someone to watch at 170 pounds man and we can’t forget this is the same guy who beat Robbie Lawler over at Strikeforce as well, and he’s a much better fighter now. Robbie Lawler of course I think is light years ahead of what he was performing at Strikeforce but I think we can potentially see Larkin fight for the belt in the near future man, I think he’s that good.”

The Main Event Challenge

UFC 199 Fight Picks: Anik Pick (Shawn Kerry Tattoo)

Hector Lombard vs. Dan Henderson

Kenny: Lombard

Shawn: Lombard KO Round 1

Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas

Kenny: Holloway by decision.

Shawn: Holloway by decision.

Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz

Kenny: Cruz by decision.

Shawn: Cruz by decision.

Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold

Kenny: Rockhold TKO Round 3.

Shawn: Rockhold KO or Submission Round 1.

Guest:

Jason Parillo (Michael Bisping’s Striking Coach)

“Well I mean obviously keeping his mind right, he’s doing a great job with that himself. I mean right now, two weeks, we are just trying to get his timing really.” – On the challenges he faces preparing Bisping for the title fight on two weeks notice.

“Well of course, I mean of course. We were ready to fight Rockhold that night also, Mike’s head got the better of him really. Mike’s come a long way since that fight. He’s had three great wins with big big middleweights, he’s beaten the last three guys, and he’s come a long way. Psychologically and really mentally he’s calmed down quite a bit – he’s getting a little bit more control of himself.” – On whether they’ve been reviewing the first fight against Rockhold and what has changed since then.

“That’s where he really crossed the line, he turned a corner on that mentally. His skill sets continue to improve but at thislevel there is minor inches here and there with improvement physically. You know you improve physically but mentally he needed to take his experience and know that he belonged to be there, he deserved to be there. He had the ability to win that fight, I knew he’d win that fight. He’s got a little bit of an off beat rhythm you know and that’s what plays a part for us this next fight too. Where Anderson is a slick guy and you can put a slick rhythmatic guy off rhythm with an offbeat rhythm, and that’s what Mike did.” – On how the Anderson Silva win helped him reach a new level.

— “I mean Luke Rockhold, I’ve said it plenty of times now in many interviews, he’s one of the best guys out there. I mean pound for pound he’s one of the best guys out there, I mean he’s arguably the best really. Mike’s really got to make it his fight, especially on the short notice, Mike’s got to make it a fight really. We don’t want to sit there and let Luke Rockhold sit on the outside and try to pick Mike apart. You know Mike has to use his foot speed and his hand speed and get in and bust him up.

You know obviously we are going up against a lefty, he’s dangerous fromeverywhere like you said Jon. We are going in there to make it a dog fight. I mean there’s only so much we can do, Mike’s going to use his skills and his footwork the way he does. I think Mike’s faster footed and faster hands. His speed is to his advantage with this guy like it has been to his advantage with his last handful of opponents.

With all these opponents really, Mike’s one of the fastest middleweights out there. He doesn’t get a whole lot of credit for that, probably because of his offbeat rhythm. His speed is dangerous and he’s caught up with it mentally and he’s using it in a proper fashion. I think that’s where we are going to stay ahead of Luke in this fight.” – On what Bisping has to do to dictate where the fight goes and how his speed plays a factor in it all.

“I think my favorite all time win was when BJ Penn choked out Kenny Florian. Ah, that was poetic, I love that fight. I’m just kidding.”

Ray Longo Minute:

“First off, hats off to Bryan Caraway. He never got frustrated after that first round, he came back, he was persistent. You know congrats to him. Him and Miesha that’s the staple of them, they just never quit and they keep driving forward and it works for them.”

“It was a great growing fight for Aljamain. You know, he’s still a work in progress. If you had to lose a fight, I’ll take that loss over you know maybe the way Thomas Almeida lost.”

“I think it was him getting excited on the submission. When he had him in that full nelson, the other guy if you look at the tape he was cringing. But he did you know hang tough. I think that was the turning point of the fight. Even Aljo in his head, this is what he told me ‘I didn’t think it was going to be this easy and I think I just got 50 thousand.’ – On the moment the fight changed and what Aljamain was thinking after his dominant first round. Also on how he needs to work on the mental to grow even more as a fighter.